Residents and business owners in unincorporated Harris County whose burglar, fire or panic alarms falsely dispatch law enforcement to their properties will be more likely to be hit with a fee after changes to alarm regulations approved on Tuesday by Commissioners Court.

A property previously could rack up five false alarms without penalty, incurring a $75 fee on the sixth false report. With Tuesday's changes, the fee now will be assessed beginning with the fourth false alarm in a given calendar year. Fire alarms also were added to the regulations for the first time.

The changes were put forward by the sheriff's office, which answers about 100,000 commercial and residential alarms annually, 99 percent of which turn out to be false.

About 85,000 people renewed alarm systems in 2011, according to the sheriff's office, and another 14,000 were issued new permits.

About 1,300 citations, and the accompanying fines of up to $500, were issued in 2011 against alarm owners who had not registered their systems, the sheriff's office said.

The initial fee for an alarm permit is $35, with annual renewals at $10.